by Doug Stanglin, USA TODAY

by Doug Stanglin, USA TODAY

Newly released 911 tapes and recollections by flight attendants aboard Asiana Airlines Flight 214 show the confusion and chaos inside and outside the Boeing 777 in the first few minutes after it slammed onto the tarmac at San Francisco International Airport.

The California Highway Patrol late Wednesday released excerpts from the emergency calls made by passengers who made it out of the plane Saturday.

Two teenage students from China were killed and more than 160 people injured among the 307 people aboard the flight, which had originated in Shanghai.

"We just crashed-landed on the airline and it looks like help's coming, but not too many ambulances," one 911 caller told the CHP dispatcher. "I think the majority of people got off. I tried to stay back, but I think there were at least a handful of people behind me before everyone was telling us to get out."

Another caller reported that there were not enough medics on the scene. "There's a woman on the runway who is pretty much burned, very severely on the head, and we don't know what to do ...," the caller said. "She is nearly burned, she will probably die soon if she doesn't get help ... she needs help. How do I -- is there any way I can assist her?"

Another woman told police that she had been on the ground for at least 20 minutes and that there were people "laying on the tarmac with critical injuries."

"We're almost losing a woman here," the caller said. "We're trying to keep her alive ... we've been on the ground and we have not seen one ambulance the whole time."

Dispatchers asked yet another caller what runway he was calling from.

"What's that?" the passenger asked.

"Are you at a specific runway?" the dispatcher asked.

"I don't know the runway," the passenger said. "We literally just ran out of the airplane."

Confusion also reigned inside the plane. With dust swirling in the cabin, the hundreds on board stayed in their seats. It wasn't until 90 seconds later, when a flight attendant noticed fire on the outside of the plane, that emergency slides were deployed and passengers began streaming out of the plane.

Two of the plane's eight slides malfunctioned, however, opening inside the cabin and pinning two flight attendants underneath.

At the same time, fire triggered by fuel leaking onto a hot engine began to spread.

National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Deborah Hersman told reporters Wednesday that she had pieced together the sequence of events based on interviews with six of the 12 flight attendants.

"We don't know what the pilots were thinking, but I can tell you, in previous accidents there have been crews that don't evacuate," Hersman said. "They wait for other vehicles to come to get the passengers out safely. Certainly if there's an awareness that there's a fire aboard the aircraft, that is a very serious issue. There was a fire, and then the evacuation began."

Two flight attendants, especially lead attendant Lee Yoon Hye, have been cited for their quick response during the evacuation. Lee and the other five attendants not hospitalized held a brief, emotional news conference Wednesday.

"I hope that all the families who suffered losses from this accident to recover as quickly as possible," Lee said. "They are all in my prayers."

With some of her colleagues choking back tears, Lee said they are all trying to recover.